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Two Cass Lake residents arrested on murder charges

From left: Dora Jean Keezer, 29, was booked on felony second-degree murder and misdemeanor fifth-degree assault and Damion John Gullickson Jr., 18, was booked into Beltrami County Jail on felony second-degree murder, as well as felony first- and third-degree assault in the death of Leslie Headbird, 44.

BEMIDJI – Two Cass Lake residents have been arrested on murder charges after police responded to a large brawl in Ten Lakes Township Thursday night.

Damion John Gullickson Jr., 18, was booked into Beltrami County Jail on felony second-degree murder, as well as felony first- and third-degree assault in the death of Leslie Headbird, 44. Dora Jean Keezer, 29, was also booked on felony second-degree murder and misdemeanor fifth-degree assault.

Authorities responded to the 1300 block of Quill Lane Southeast in Ten Lakes Township, about 13 miles east of Bemidji, after a report of a fight just after 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Beltrami County sheriff’s deputies and Leech Lake Tribal police discovered a group of “extremely intoxicated individuals who were bleeding and in various states of distress,” according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

Responders attempted to revive Headbird at the scene, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the Cass Lake Hospital.

Two other unidentified victims, a man and a woman, were also taken to the hospital with possible life-threatening injuries.

Shortly after, Gullickson was found in Cass Lake after he tried to break into a residence and stopped a car on the street in an attempt to steal it.

He was arrested by Cass County sheriff’s deputies and taken to the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center for minor injuries. It’s unclear when Keezer was arrested.

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Leech Lake Tribal Police, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Special agents, Minnesota State Patrol, Paul Bunyan Task Force, Bemidji Ambulance and Leech Lake Ambulance.

John Hageman covers North Dakota politics from the Forum News Service bureau in Bismarck. He attended the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, where he studied journalism and political science, and he previously worked at the Grand Forks Herald and Bemidji Pioneer.